Sunday, March 25, 2012

"Mad Men", "The Killing" and TV Shows You Can Skip

Hello,

Tonight after 17 very long months, "Mad Men" finally returns. The last we left SCDP the year was 1965. From things I've read it seems Season 5 has jumped a bit in time. It seems more than just a few months jump. There are many unresolved questions. Did Don Draper ever marry his secretary? If he married her, will he be able to remain faithful to her? What's the status on Henry and Betty Francis? Although it's early in their marriage, there were starting to be cracks in it's foundation. Am I the only that wouldn't be surprised with a reconciliation between Don and Betty? What's the status of SCDP, they were having problems remaining financially afloat at the end of Season 4. Is Roger Sterling going to actually start working, instead of living off his Daddy's money? Finally is Pete Campbell still as annoying as he always been? Actually I know the answer to that, yes!

I'm so glad one of the most gorgeous women is finally back on TV in January Jones. I also look forward to the very lovely Christina Hendricks back on my TV screen on Sunday nights. I also wonder is Sal returning? I would love to see him back, he's probably my favorite character in the "Mad Men" universe.

Next week the second season of "The Killing" premieres. I'll be watching this show only to mock it for it's stupidity. On the other hand this show does seem to still have some potential, I would like it to see it recapture it's potential. The first half of Season 2 of "The Walking Dead" had a very slow start, but was able to regain it's mojo in the last few episodes of Season 2. Of course a lot of that shift was probably due to the show runner change that occurred mid season. On "The Killing" for some reason even after that atrocious Season 1 finale, AMC still kept Veena Sud as "The Killing" show runner. Sud comes off as a very clueless person. She seems to be unaware why the Season 1 finale was so thoroughly loathed. Even though no one knew if there was going to be a Season 2 until extremely late in Season 1, she was still going to have that same ending. What the hell? She also is very defensive in her interviews.

In spite of Sud remaining "The Killing's" show runner, I still hope it returns to the quality of the first few episodes of Season 1. Unfortunately this show has so many weaknesses, I doubt the likelihood of that. It's so languidly paced and the producers and writers seem to have an inability to have us like any of the characters. If I don't care about the characters, I have a hard time caring about what happens to them. Who killed Rosie Larsen? Who cares? It seems the killer of Rosie Larsen isn't going to be revealed until the end of Season 2. This case has already been stretched too thin. All those episodes devoted to Bennet Ahmed as Rosie's possible killer was a lesson in boredom. (It reminds me of the mind numbing lameness of looking for Sophia in "The Walking Dead". Are these lame story ideas related to rumored AMC budget cuts to keep "Mad Men" around?)

Then who is going to be the next mayor of Seattle, again who cares? That has been an extremely boring storyline. Darren Richmond comes off as a typical slimy politician, he also has a couple of slimy aides. No one ever accused this show of breaking any new ground. Since each hour is a day in the life of this show, we will have to endure the mayoral election of Seattle story line until the end of Season 2. Yawn.

Then for the ending of season 1, how will Veena Sud redeem herself from that stink bomb of an ending. If someone assassinates Darren Richmond, who cares? Detective Linden is finally off to California to be with her semi fiancé. I was surprised she even got on the plane to go and it's no shock to me that she's come back to Seattle in Season 2. Then what's up with Detective Holder? Who is he really working for and what is his agenda?

The whole Larsen family is lame. Michelle Forbes, who plays Mitch Larsen, is a terrible actress. She must have went to the same school for bad acting as Sarah Wayne Cailles. Mitch Larsen is one of the worst characters ever to grace broadcast TV. The fact she leaves her two kids behind to go on a personal journey is reprehensible. Then Stanley Larsen isn't the sharpest knife in the drawer either. He's too easily manipulated by his wife and I think he's the killer of Rosie. Stanley seems like he could be a really cool character, but maybe not in the hands of this creative team.

I hate this time of year as it seems the networks are keeping most of their new episodes from showing until the upcoming sweeps. All of my favorite shows are hit of miss from week to week. I was bored last night and went to Comcast On Demand to watch some shows. I'm afraid Comcast On Demand let me down. I gave a chance to two shows that I've heard good things about. The first was "Break Out Kings". Besides the gorgeous Megan Fox look alike actress, this show has very little going for it. The hour show was so boring, that I had to force myself to watch the whole thing. Then the other show I watched was "Happy Endings". I was very disappointed by this show that Entertainment Weekly had said good things about. For a supposed "Friends" like comedy, I don't recall laughing even once. As with "Break Out Kings" I was very glad when it finally ended.

Another show you can skip is "Bent". It has a few more laughs than "Happy Endings" but not enough. I love Amanda Peet and she's good in this show. However the whole show just left me feeling meh.

Great songs:

Another great song from "The Hunger Games" Soundtrack. This is the third great song I've featured from "The Hunger Games" soundtrack. This is the Decemberists "One Engine":